Time Traveller
by Lady GreyWolf
Summary: After a long day at the university, Susan finds herself transported 360 years into the future. When joined by Martha Jones on the Enterprise, the ship sets out on the strangest of quests; to find the one man who can fix it all


With a deep sigh she sat down on the king-size bed. School could be so incredibly boring sometimes. This day she'd had math, psychology, gym class and physics, which meant the most boring day of the week. She leaned back, still keeping her feet on the floor, and rubbed her face with both hands. Why had she chosen to study to become a doctor? That would take years!

"Excuse me?"

The unfamiliar voice startled her. She hadn't heard anyone enter her room. Her eyes snapped open and she found herself looking up at a dark-skinned human and behind him were a light roof with strong lights. Where the hell was she?

"You must've fainted", the man said. "Come, I'll help you to your rooms."

She must've looked pretty confused, because he suddenly wrinkled his forehead.

"You're onboard the _USS Enterprise_, m'am", he said slowly. "I believe you're one of those that we're escorting to a new colony."

She stared at him as she stood up.

"What are you talking about?" she whispered. He grabbed her arm.

"It seems like you've hit your head quite badly", he said. "Come on, I'll take you to the doctor."

"What year is it?" she whispered. The man looked even more confused as he looked at her again.

"2368", he answered. "You must've had a hard fall."

"I never fell", she managed to answer. "I… I have no idea how I got here. The last thing I remember was when I lay down on my bed… back at home."

"Hold it right there!"

The harsh voice made them both look up. When she saw the creature in front of her, she screamed in fear. It was not a human, nor any kind of animal. It was… a monster, in her eyes. The man holding her looked surprised.

"Sir, she's under shock, I believe she's lost her memory", he said, his grip around her left arm hardened as she tried to escape.

"She is not one of those that we beamed over", the creature answered.

"Let me go!" she called out, not listening to any of them. "Release me!"

When he finally did, she started to run back through the corridor. She heard someone following her, but she didn't turn. It must be a nightmare, she thought. A terrible nightmare that was too real. Soon she would wake up.

And she did, but not in her bed at home. She lay on some kind of a bunk in a small room with metallic walls. Except for the bunk, the other interior was only some kind of wash basin. She was still terrified that the creature would show up and was shaking as she sat up.

As she massaged her aching temples, she realised that not only had she seen creatures that she could hardly believe in; she had also travelled 360 years forward in time. How was that even possible?

"That is a good question."

She looked up in surprise and realised a man was standing in front of her. He had brown hair and dark eyes and somehow she thought of his face as similar to a girl's.

"What do you mean?" she asked. He smiled.

"What I mean?" he laughed. "You asked how it was possible to travel 360 years forward in time and that is a good question, for a human."

"You're saying that you're not human?" she said and shook her head, not believing him.

"How would I otherwise be able to do this?"

Now his voice was right behind her and she rose, running straight into him as he suddenly stood before her again.

"You know, playing with you humans is one of the funniest things I do", he said as she backed away again. "It's almost like you never learn how much I can do."

"What do you want?" she asked furiously. He laughed again.

"What I want?" he said. "The question is not what I want. It is what you want."

"I want to go home", she answered. Another laugh, one that she found could be quite irritating.

"Well, then I shouldn't keep you busy", he said. "I guess you have a lot to do; travelling 360 years backwards."

And then he was gone. She stared at the point were he'd been standing, before she sat down on the bunk again. He was right about one thing; she had to travel 360 years backwards in time. It was definitely not an easy task.

Then the door opened and two humans stepped inside, one man and one woman. The woman had long, black hair and wore a light purple body-suit that showed her curves. The man had the same type of clothes as the creature she'd met; black trousers and a jacket in two colours, but the creature had had yellow and black, this man had red and black. His grey-blue eyes pierced her.

"So you're the girl Mr Worf found", he said. She didn't answer. They already knew she was, why did she have to confirm something that people already knew?

"Both he and the ensign told us you were in a shock", the man continued. "Do you have any idea what caused it?"

She found herself smiling at the question as she looked up at them again.

"Something that is impossible had just happened, tell me why I should not be shocked?" she asked instead of answering. The man wrinkled his forehead, but the woman looked calm.

"You still seem much stressed by this", she said.

"I need to find a way to get back home", she answered. "That will be extremely hard."

"Why should it be?" the man asked.

"Well, if you can find away to move backwards in time 360 years and hit a special day on a special hour, I would be glad to hear it", she answered, irritated, and rose. Both of them looked surprised.

"You're saying you've…" the man began.

"Yes, I've travelled hundreds of years forward, somehow", she answered. The man looked at the dark-haired woman, who nodded.

"She's telling the truth", she said. The man nodded and turned.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Susan", she answered, crossing her arms over her chest. The man nodded and touched a plate on the wall.

"I'm Commander William Riker", he said. "This is Councillor Deanna Troi."

She nodded at them.

"Come, we need to discuss this with the Captain", Troi said and firmly grabbed her arm. She yanked back.

"I can walk by myself, thank you", she said sharply. Both of them looked surprised, but allowed her to walk without them holding her.

Some minutes later, they passed an open door that led into a dim room. Susan stopped when she heard the music.

"Who's playing?" she asked.

"Data", Riker answered. He was just about to continue when Susan interrupted him.

"He's playing _Waltz of the Flowers_ by Tchaikovsky", she said. "I've played that one too. But he needs to lengthen some tones and shorten some to get the right feeling. And some of his diminuendos are wrong."

"Data is an android", Riker said with a smile. "He can read any notes you put in front of him, but he still can't feel emotions. It's harder to do such expressions then."

"I guess", Susan said and looked forward again. "Anyway, it sounded pretty good."

"Thank you."

She spun around and stood face to face with the android Data; a humanlike being except for his pale skin and yellow eyes.

"Has everyone here the ability to show up without people hearing them?" Susan exclaimed. "It's quite annoying."

Data tilted his head a bit, before he returned to the subject of music.

"You said something about the expression in the music", he said. "Could you point out and perhaps show how I shall do?"

"I'm afraid I can't show you", Susan answered. "I do not play violin. But I can mark out in the notes how you shall do it."

The android nodded and showed her into his room and she asked him to play once again. The Commander and Councillor watched how she pointed out in the notes and used hand motions to show how it should sound. Only after a few times the watchers could hear that the expression in the music had changed. It was also visible that Susan relaxed while she was working with the music.

"She's really good", Riker told his friend when Data gave the melody another try. Deanna nodded. At the same time Susan stepped out of the room. The Councillor could feel that she'd calmed down.

"Well, should we go to the Captain?" she asked with a smile. The two others smiled back before they continued through the corridors.


End file.
